Questions about sealing plaster and painting kitchens

[Lookslikerain]

I wasn't sure if this was the right place or if I should post in property/DIY. Disclaimer: I am a totally hopeless DIY case! Please be gentle with me!

Our new kitchen was finished in January and the painter is coming on Tuesday to start the painting. We are supplying the paint. He's told us how much we need, and said we needed paint to seal the plaster and then our emulsion. Visited b&q today, and I'm totally confused!

There is a specific plaster sealer but its really expensive (we have a large area to cover). We asked someone who works there for advice, and she said we can use a paint that's made for painting onto plaster. It would seal it and then, if we want a different colour, we paint over the top.

So my questions:

• do I need a specific plaster sealer or can i just use this paint for plaster to seal it?
• if I use this paint first, is it easy enough to paint our coloured emulsion over the top?
• if I use said plaster paint first, would I need to use white emulsion on top for the ceiling?
• do I need a specific kitchen paint or can I use any paint in my kitchen? What is the difference between normal paint and kitchen paints?

It's a minefield! It feels like when I was trying to pick a pram pre-DC!

All you need to do is apply a mist coat - you need to wait a few weeks for the plaster to dry and then paint with the mist coat which soaks into the plaster.
The intructions Should be on the tin but the best paint to by is trade white emulsion.
Mist coat is just watered down emulsion but make sure the consistency is right.
I recommend dulux trade or wickes trade.

When that's dry you can paint your chosen colour. You don't need specific kitchen paint but I would recommend one that can be wiped so get a sheen one rather than a chalky Matt. You can go chalky but bear in mind that it'll look shit after about 2 weeks of cooking in the room

Good luck - it's really not as difficult as people like to make out and you don't need specific paints. Just don't pva glue the plaster (an old recommendation) as that doesn't allow it to breathe.

I was posting to suggest watered down pva as that's what we do - just pva'd our extension.

No idea about breathability [oops emoticon]

Too tired - it should be ok, it just might need replacing rather than drying out if you have a damp problem.
If damp comes from outside it basically will have nowhere to go as you've sealed the wall so it probably won't show but will rot the wall quicker.

It might also make the paint slide.

Hope none of this happens to you and they are worst case scenarios but next time don't pva!